Shape Description Shape Image

How to Construct the Midsegment of a

Triangle:
1. Set the compass width to a little over
half the length of AB.
2. From A, make an arc on each side of
AB.
3. Without changing the compass width,
from B, make arcs crossing the first
two at E and F.
4. Draw a line from E to F, creating point
S where it crosses AB. Point S is the
midpoint of AB.
5. Repeat the process with line BC,
creating point T on BC.
6. Draw a line from S to T.

How to Construct the Midsegments of Three

Triangles:
1. Set the compass width to a little over
half the length of AB.
2. From A, make an arc on each side of
AB.
3. Without changing the compass width,
from B, make arcs crossing the first
two at E and F.
4. Draw a line from E to F, creating point
S where it crosses AB. Point S is the
midpoint of AB.
5. Repeat the process with line BC,
creating point T on BC.
6. Draw a line from S to T.
How to Construct the Perpendicular Bisector
of One Side of an Isosceles Triangle:
1. Place the compasses on one end of
the line segment.
2. Set the compasses' width to a
approximately two thirds the line
length. The actual width does not
matter.
3. Without changing the compasses'
width, draw an arc above and below
the line.
4. Again without changing the
compasses' width, place the
compasses' point on the the other end
of the line. Draw an arc above and
below the line so that the arcs cross
the first two.
5. Using a straightedge, draw a line
between the points where the arcs
intersect.
6. Done. This line is perpendicular to the
first line and bisects it (cuts it at the
exact midpoint of the line).

How to Construct the Perpendicular Bisector

of One Side of an Isosceles Triangle:
1. Place the compasses on one end of
the line segment.
2. Set the compasses' width to a
approximately two thirds the line
length. The actual width does not
matter.
3. Without changing the compasses'
width, draw an arc above and below
the line.
4. Again without changing the
compasses' width, place the
compasses' point on the the other end
 of the line. Draw an arc above and
below the line so that the arcs cross
the first two.
5. Using a straightedge, draw a line
between the points where the arcs
intersect.
6. Done. This line is perpendicular to the
first line and bisects it (cuts it at the
exact midpoint of the line).

How to Construct the Median of the Triangle:

1. With the compasses' point on any
vertex, set the compasses' width to
any medium setting. In this example,
we pick point P and the side PQ.
2. Draw an arc on each side of the line.
3. Without changing the compasses'
width, place the compasses' point on
the other end of the selected side, and
make two more arcs so they intersect
with the first two.
4. Draw a line between the points where
the arcs cross. This will bisect the
triangle side, dividing it into two equal
parts. Label this point S.
5. Draw a line between S and the vertex
opposite - in this case the point R.
6. Done. The blue line SR is one of the
three possible medians of the triangle
PQR. The other two can be
constructed in a similar way

How to Construct the Four Points of

Concurrency:
1. The Orthocenter:
a. Set the compasses' width to
the length of a side of the
triangle. Any side will do, but
the shortest works best.
b. With the compasses on B,
one end of that line, draw an
arc across the opposite side.
Label this point F.
c. Repeat for the other end of
the line, C. Label this point P.
d. With the compasses on B,
set the compasses' width to
more than half the distance to
P.
 e. From B and P, draw two arcs
that intersect, creating point
Q.
f. Use a straightedge to draw a
line from C to Q. The part of
this line inside the triangle
forms an altitude of the
triangle.
g. With the compasses on C,
set the compasses' width
tomore than half the distance
to F.
h. From C and F, draw two arcs
that intersect, creating point
E.
i. Use a straightedge to draw a
line from B to E. The part of
this line inside the triangle
forms an altitude of the
triangle.
j. Done. The point where the
two altitudes intersect is the
orthocenter of the triangle.
(You may need to extend the
altitude lines so they intersect
if the orthocenter is outside
the triangle)
2. The Incenter:
a. Place the compasses' point
on any of the triangle's
vertices. Adjust the
compasses to a medium
width setting. The exact width
is not important.
b. Without changing the
compasses' width, strike an
arc across each adjacent
side.
c. Change the compasses'
width if desired, then from the
point where each arc crosses
the side, draw two arcs inside
the triangle so that they cross
each other, using the same
compasses' width for each.
d. Using the straightedge, draw
a line from the vertex of the
triangle to where the last two
 arcs cross.
e. Repeat all of the above at
any other vertex of the
triangle. You will now have
two new lines drawn.
f. Done. Mark a point where the
two new lines intersect. This
is the incenter of the triangle.
g. (Optional) Repeat steps 1-4
for the third vertex. This will
convince you that the three
angle bisectors do, in fact,
always intersect at a single
point. But two are enough to
find that point.
3. The Circumcenter:
a. Find the bisector of one of
the triangle sides. Any one
will do. See Constructing the
Perpendicular Bisector of a
Line Segment for detailed
instructions.
b. Repeat for the another side.
Any one will do.
c. Mark the point where these
two perpendiculars intersect
as point O.
d. Done. The point O is the
circumcenter of the triangle
ABC.
4. The Centroid:
a. Construct the bisector of the
line segment PQ. Label the
midpoint of the line S. See
Constructing a perpendicular
bisector of a line segment
b. Draw the median from the
midpoint S to the opposite
vertex R.
c. In the same manner,
construct T, the midpoint of
the line segment QR. See
Constructing a perpendicular
bisector of a line segment.
d. Draw the median from the
midpoint T to the opposite
vertex P.
e. Done. The point C where the